Rick Hannon

to the question of "is it worth it?" I'd offer unqualified praise. You may find speciality stores that handle some niche better, and you can find supermarkets that might beat them on price, but I've yet to find a supermarket that does the many things that they do as well as they do. Shopping there is an experience that I anticipate with joy every week. Granted, I don't have much of a life, but hey ... We live in Rochester, NY (Wegman's homebase), but this is more than adopted hometown pride talking ... We seem to get there with most of our out-of-town visitors, and they all tend to rave about it. For some, it may be the only reason they visit, but that gets back to me being the kind of guy that reacts with joy to supermarket shopping ... Finally, I can honestly say that the worst experience I've ever had with a Wegman's employee - at any level - has been "OK." From there it only gets better, and some of their people have done some outstanding things. Conversely, the best experience I've had most other places has crummy ...

Follow this devolution (from a former Northeastern Pennsylvanier). The Lion Brewery of Wilkes-Barre makes Stegmaier, which has been cited as "the worst beer I've ever tasted" by people who have some experience in this area. Said Steg is at the top of The Lion's list. Below that is Gibbons, which really stinks. Below that - and I'm not kidding - was The Lion's "Generic Beer." It was marketed in the mid- to late-70's (at least in Upstate New York). Plain white can, simple black lettering. For all I know, The Lion has but one big vat, and they make the same stuff day in and day out, just changing the labels, but Generic Beer had to be the most disturbing, depressing stuff ever sold (for about $1.70 per sixer, I think). It was sort of, "Hey, you're poor and can't really afford beer, but even so, you don't have to do without." The stuff was so bad, one could never even attempt to offer it is a post-ironic, "I'm sooo beyond the marketing hype of the big breweries ..." It was hideous.